Big bird breaks cover... and possibly size record

YOU could call it a very rare bird indeed. One of the longest male pheasants seen in years in Tipperary, if not all of Ireland, has fallen to the pellets of a hunter’s shotgun.

The pheasant measures a whopping 47.5 inches (or 120.6cm) from the tip of its beak to the tip of its tail. The big bird was shot by Michael Rafferty Jr on the lands of Noel Carroll of Knockshegownan, Nenagh.

“This is a one in a million chance. I will probably never see a pheasant like this again. These birds do not exist; it’s absolutely a one-off,” said Mr Rafferty, who intends to get his quarry stuffed.